Devil's Glen, County Wicklow

Another day, another enchanted woodland walk, this time through Devil's Glen in Ashford, County Wicklow.  I think my boys have by now reached forest fatigue, but I have been revelling in these walks, soaking up the magical atmosphere before I return to work next week.

We did the standard walk to the waterfall from the car park, going via the cliff' route and returning along the river (Vartry).  The inspiration for these walks has come from a wonderful website I found  - Dublin & Wicklow Walks .  I first discovered it when I was looking for trails around Glendalough and we used it as the basis for Monday's walk in the lovely Crone Woods. 

Once again the Autumn colours have been a real treat and I think this might possibly be the most spectacular time of year to wander around here.

I haven't included any of the sculpture dotted around the woods.  I tend to prefer nature on its own although the artwork here is sensitively done and blends in well.  I found some of these cryptic signs quite interesting - there are quite a few placed on rocks along the path.

The waterfall.  Not a very big one but it is extremely pretty.

Crone Forest towards Powerscourt Waterfall

This week I'm on holiday again so we looked for a new place to go for a walk.  We chose the path through Crone Forest towards the Powerscourt Waterfall - part of the well-marked Wicklow Way.  I must say I enjoyed it as much as our regular walks through Glen of the Downs and even the wonderful day we spent at Glendalough recently.

The walk was a marvellous combination of woodland trail and open vistas.  From here you could look all the way down to the sea.  

Its another enchanted forest, with the same lovely woodland I've enjoyed so much on our other walks.

I thought we would be able to walk all the way around to the top of the waterfall but that isn't possible on this trail.  There were places where we had a great view of it, but always from a distance.  Unfortunately the sun was directly in front of me when I tried to photograph the waterfall and at this time of year the sun is quite low in the sky so it wasn't possible to take a picture that isn't hazy. 
 

The walk varies a lot as you meander along.  That was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much - it changes in atmosphere and mood around every corner.  

When we finally made our way down to the river (Dargle) we discovered we could go no further.  The bridge has been damaged and pushed to one side by floods (not sure if this happened when we had torrential rain recently).  There wasn't an obvious place to cross so we stopped here.

It was a lovely place to sit for a while in the sun and enjoy the day.  There is a remote, almost desolate beauty to this place that I found incredibly appealing.

The path is back up the hill to the tree that stands like a beacon at the top!

Just like Glendalough some of the forested area has been cleared.  I'm not sure if this is also an exercise in removing alien vegetation.  It has left the top of this hill looking like something out of a strange fantasy tale - you could almost feel the magic crackling in the air. 
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Two nice benches positioned just as you reach the point (walking the other way) when the waterfall first comes into view.

Autumn colours still everywhere to be seen...

And of course more of the fairy tale trees that I adore so much.

Spooky Treats for Halloween

I hope our local newspapers don't mind that I'm including these recipes (on just this one occasion) in my blog but I thought they were brilliant and look like a lot of fun to make.  The mummy cupcakes and eyeballs are from the Irish Independent and the orange squash loaf is from the Irish Daily Mail.  Both appeared in their respective papers yesterday.

My husband and son were both adament that they would not eat a cake containing butternut squash as much as they enjoy it as a vegetable.  I thought this loaf looked quite interesting though and wouldn't mind trying it sometime.

Saalfield Indian Paper Dolls #1367

When I first saw this set again in these self consciously PC times my first thought was that Saalfield would never be able to publish a book like this today.  On reflection, though, I can't see why not.  This is a truly beautifully book with wonderful attention to detail.

Although presented as a single family, each outfit in this set is representative of a different ethnic group, covering the entire geographical region of America.  I'm not at all knowledgeable in this area but I believe that each example of traditional dress is both authentic and accurate. 

For me, though, these dolls with their lovely names - Running Deer, Bright Arrow, Happy Dawn and Starlight - have always represented the perfect family unit, conveying both contentment and complete harmony.

I've always though the little girl in this set is the cutest doll I've ever owned.  Her blue outfit is my favourite - I love both the colour and design.


                     

This set is another example of Saalfield's practice of reprinting different versions of the same book with varying artwork and content.  I've seen three different variations.  The oldest version from the 1950's also contained pages to colour but my copy from the 60's only included the dolls and clothes.

Hallow e'en

During my childhood in South Africa we did not celebrate Hallowe'en and until I came to Ireland ten years ago I was not even sure what day of the year it fell on.  Ireland of course is different, as many of the traditions we associate with Hallowe'en (eg trick or treat) originated here and were taken to countries like America by Irish emigrants.

I've had this card for many years (since the 70's at least) and I think this lovely little witch is perfect for this time of year.